No Room for Knights
by Viewtiful Jeff
Summary: While waiting for a lead on Yliaster, Sherry asks to speak to Aki in private, and a friendly duel between the two ensues, eventually leading to a proposition May have some Sherry/Aki later, if continued.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I had a little idea for a chat Sherry and Aki might end up having, and it kinda ballooned outward into this thing. Does it seem worth continuing? You tell me. If I continue, it could involve some Sherry/Aki romantic content.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, but I do own five D's that are in Yu-Gi-Oh!.

* * *

"What do you mean he got away?" Sherry asked, slamming her hands on the table and sending some of Yuusei's tools clattering to the ground. "You found the only credible lead on Yliaster since the WRGP was delayed, and then just let him get away in the same breath?"

"Technically, Jack let him get away." Crow clarified.

"What? How dare you pin this on me, Crow!" Jack roared, his anger easily outclassing Sherry's at the accusation.

"If you hadn't been freaking out about your stupid stolen cup ramen, he wouldn't have gotten away!" Crow shot back.

"MY CUP RAMEN ISN'T STUPID!" Jack bellowed, and started shaking Crow by his neck. "WITH GOD AS MY WITNESS, I'M GOING TO GET THAT WORTHLESS HENCHMAN!"

"gahk - oxygen - darkness!" Crow sputtered, giving Yuusei and Sherry their cue to intervene.

"Jack! JACK!"

"Calm down, for God's sake!"

It took the two a couple minutes to pull Jack and Crow apart, and Sherry's idea to hold on to Crow proved wise, as he tried to lunge forward at Jack the second he'd caught his breath. "Are you tryin' to kill me, you son of a bitch? I'll kick your ass!"

"What's that? You want a piece of me, Crow!" Jack shot back, causing Yuusei (who still had a hand on his arm) to sigh.

"C'mon, Jack, you can take him!" Rua egged on, quickly earning him a disapproving glance from Ruka.

"Rua! Don't encourage them!"

"H-hey, hey!" Despite his fear that it might end in him being throttled in the crossfire, Bruno moved in between Crow and Jack. "Maybe, instead of this, we should be focusing on Jaeger...?"

"Hrmph." Jack ripped out of Yuusei's grasp and crossed his arms. "I'll capture that clown myself. I have a foolproof plan to lure him out!"

Despite the headache she felt coming on, Sherry tempted fate and decided to investigate. "What plan is that?"

"It's simple! All we do is-" Jack paused and reached a hand into his jacket, before pulling out a slip of paper. He scanned it, then looked at Sherry. "No, no, there's no room for a knight...it'd be out of place with the witch and the condiments." He then spoke louder. "Don't worry about it! It doesn't concern you!"

Sherry desperately desperately wished her hearing wasn't as good as it was. "...you know what? _Fine_. I wish I hadn't asked."

"Don't worry, Sherry." Yuusei said. "We'll find him, and when we do, you'll be the first one we call." Annoyed as she was by Jack's bizarre personality, Sherry had to admit that it was hard to not be reassured when Yuusei spoke like that.

"...fine." Sherry muttered and started to make to leave. "Just...call me when you get your hands on him."

"Oi, Sherry." Crow said. "You should relax. All of us wanna get those bastards from Yliaster, but if you're not careful, you'll lose it. And then you'll start blathering about random crap like stolen ramen." He said, a grin spreading across his face.

"What was that, Crow! Do you want to fight me!"

"Bring it on! Crow the Bullet isn't afraid of anything!"

"...right. I'm leaving." Sherry said and turned for the exit, while Yuusei and Bruno tried to stop a fight from starting. Before she made it to the door, she turned towards Aki. "Izayoi."

"Hm?" Aki turned her head towards Sherry. "What is it?"

"There's something I want to speak to you about." She quickly scrawled something down on a card and tossed it to Aki. "That's the hotel I'm staying at and my room number."

Suddenly, the entire room was silenced, even Jack (who had a foot in his chest) and Crow (who had a hand threatening to rip out his orange locks), as they all looked towards Aki and Sherry.

The extra gazes weren't lost on Aki, who suddenly felt a little more nervous than she really thought was necessary. "Ah...um." She nodded. "Alright."

A smile made its way on to Sherry's face. "Good." She gave Aki a two-fingered wave as she exited the garage, closing it behind her. "I'll see you later, then."

"...what was she talkin' about?" Rua asked. "Why didn't she just say whatever she had to say right here."

"Duh! She didn't want any of us to hear!" Crow said.

"That woman...she's strange." Jack muttered, rubbing his chin. "I don't know if I trust her. The way she leaped at that man from Yliaster..." He frowned. "Even though she had no chance, she kept going after him, like some kind of demon. She seems like the type who'd destroy herself to get revenge on Yliaster..."

"At least she's not gonna destroy herself over some stolen ramen."

"THAT'S IT! COME HERE, CROW!"

"BRING IT ON!"

Aki let out a sigh and looked at the door Sherry had just walked out of. She didn't say anything out loud, but to be honest, she was even more confused than any of her friends. _This after we've only talked twice..._ She briefly remembered her short conversations with Sherry after her duel with Yuusei and prior to their match against Team Catastrophe. She looked down at the card. _...does she have some kind of interest in me?_

"ABSOLUTE POWER FOOOOOOOOOORCE!" Jack roared as he drove Crow through the table, face first.

"Oh _geez_...!" Bruno gaped.

"YEAH, GO JACK!" Rua cheered.

Aki had stayed at Yuusei's garage for a while after that, only leaving after getting into an argument with Jack over wearing some absurd witch costume in order to catch Jaeger. At first, she had thought Crow was being a little harsh, but now she kind of wondered if Jack was taking this whole thing a bit too personally.

"Witch costume...unbelievable." She muttered as she came to a stoplight. She glanced up at the street signs. "Ah. This is close to her hotel..." Aki took this into consideration. Her parents didn't like her to be home too late, but...while she was already here, she might as well. She turned her D-Wheel and headed down the street. Within a few moments, she could see Sherry's hotel. From there, it only took her a few minutes to park and then find her way to the room number Sherry had given her.

The answer came quickly after she knocked at Sherry's door. "Who's there?" The voice was gruff and deep, Aki immediately recognized it.

"It's...it's Aki Izayoi, Mizoguchi-san." She answered. "Sherry-san asked me to come meet her here."

She was met with silence for a moment, then what sounded like a lock being undone. The door opened, and before Aki could say 'hello', Mizoguchi was already bowing and moving to the side to let her in. "Please, come in, Izayoi-san."

Aki would've been lying if she said she'd never been invited in by a butler before, but she still couldn't help but feel a bit uncomfortable seeing Mizoguchi like that. Maybe it was just because she'd met him right after he'd throttled several people. She walked into the hotel room, and looked around. She was a bit taken aback - she wouldn't have been surprised if the room was bigger than Yuusei's garage, honestly. Her eyes fell to a sofa before a wooden table. Sherry was sitting before the table and seemed to both be watching the news and doing something with her deck on the table.

"Izayoi." Sherry placed her cards down and stood up. "I'm glad you came."

"Mmn." As Sherry made eye contact with her, she slowly glanced down at her cards on the table. _Why am I getting nervous again... _She pushed the thought out of her mind, and looked at the TV for a second, before back at Sherry. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"No, not at all." Sherry picked up the remote and shut off the TV. "I was just scanning the news. For anything regarding the WRGP or anything that may be related to Yliaster."

"Oh...I was hearing rumors that the WRGP might actually be canceled, between the attack from the Ghosts and the accidents from Team Unicorn, Team Catastrophe and..." Aki paused, and suddenly looked down. "...from Crow and myself." She muttered.

"I doubt it." Sherry said. "Yliaster has some kind of a plan for the WRGP. They'll probably force it to continue if they have to."

Aki nodded. "Yuusei thinks so too...in that case, do you and Mizoguchi-san have a third team member yet?"

"Not yet - I'm getting closer though." She smiled. "I have a lead on someone. I think I'll get them to agree to it soon." Sherry walked back over to the couch, and gathered up her cards. "Do you have your deck with you, Izayoi?"

"Ah - yes, I do." Aki reached into a deck holder at her side and produced her deck. "Did you - want to duel?"

"If it's alright with you." Sherry said, shuffling her deck and placing it on the table. "I hope you don't mind dueling with Riding rules like this."

"No, it's fine." Aki sat down on the couch and placed her deck on the opposite side of the table. She stole a glance at Sherry as she rolled a die on the table and it came up as a 5. _Why does she want to duel me? Moreover, why does she want to duel me away from everyone else...?_ She took the die in her hand and rolled it in the same manner Sherry had - 6.

"You're pretty lucky, Izayoi." Sherry picked up five cards from her deck. "Let's see if that luck lasts you." She smirked at Aki as she spread the five cards of her opening hand out.

Once again, Aki found herself forced to beat back a sudden rush of anxiety as she picked up six cards from her deck. _It's not even a real Riding Duel, for goodness sake, it's on a table. Calm down..._ She plucked a card out of her hand. "I summon Violet Witch in defense position and set one card face down. End turn."

Aki slowly exhaled. _That Fleur de Chevalier...it's an incredibly frustrating monster. Even with Black Rose Dragon out, I can't destroy it._ She shot a glance at the slip of paper that was standing in for Speed World 2 and the clumps of change that were standing in for Speed Counters. Aki had 8, and Sherry had 3, an aftereffect of using Speed Spell - Overboost a couple turns prior. _Right now, I have 1400 life points...if she summons a monster to go with Fleur de Chevalier next turn, I might lose._

She drew a card, and both she and Sherry tossed another coin into their respective piles. _I thought I could hold out until I had enough counters to use Speed World 2's effect to just destroy Fleur de Chevalier, but..._ She glanced at Sherry's field. Besides Fleur de Chevalier, she had two set cards. IAt this rate, she might just beat me before my next turn anyway. But maybe if I'm lucky/i She glanced at her deck. "I'm using Speed World 2's effect." She scooped away all seven of her coins. "By removing seven cards from Speed World 2, I can draw 1 card." She picked up the top card of her deck and smiled. "I activate Speed Spell - Speed Energy! This gives Black Rose Dragon an extra 400 ATK until the end of the turn!"

Sherry's eyes narrowed. _Is she trying to trade off with Fleur de Chevalier? If she has those two destroy each other in a draw and then summons another monster...no, that's not it. Destroying and reviving Black Rose Dragon is her specialty. She might already have a way to bring it back from the graveyard._ The decision was practically made for Sherry. "I activate Fleur de Chevalier's effect to negate Speed Energy."

"Alright." Aki placed the card into her graveyard. "In that case, I activate this - Speed Spell - Book of Moon!" Aki scooped up her last two counters. "By removing two Speed Counters I control, one monster you control is forced into face down defense position. I choose Fleur de Chevalier!"

"..." Sherry had to stare at what had just transpired for a moment, before chuckling. "Alright. Fleur de Chevalier is moved face down." She said, flipping the Synchro over. _Now I'm in a far worse position than if I had just let her activate Speed Energy and trade off. She tried the same trick Yuusei did to get around Fleur de Chevalier's effect._ Sherry grinned as Aki leafed through her graveyard. _That works perfectly._

"I'm removing Rose Fairy from my graveyard for Black Rose Dragon's effect." Aki declared, pocketing the plant-type monster. "Fleur de Chevalier is forced to ATK position and its ATK is reduced to 0."

"Alright." Sherry said, flipping her monster back up.

"Since I haven't normal summoned yet, I'll play Copy Plant in defense." Aki glanced at her own face down card - Pollinosis. _If one of her traps blacks Black Rose Dragon's attack, I can use Pollinosis to negate it...it's a Counter Trap, so Fleur de Chevalier will be unable to negate it._ "Black Rose Dragon attacks Fleur de Chevalier!"

"Fleur de Chevalier is destroyed." Sherry said, still smiling as she placed her ace monster into the graveyard. She was now left with only 300 life points. She calmly flipped one of her face down cards. "I activate Death Accel. I'll gain 1 Speed Counter for every 500 points of damage I took from Black Rose Dragon's effect."

Aki's eyes widened. _She's increasing her Speed Counters...she's going to try and finish me off!_ She flipped her own card. "I'll tribute Copy Plant to activate Pollinosis. That will negate Death Accel's effect."

Sherry smirked and placed one finger underneath her under card, flipping it over. "I'll use Solemn Judgment to negate Pollinosis' effect." Her life points trickled down to 150, but both duelists knew it didn't matter.

_Solemn Judgment...? That means...she could've negated Book of Moon at any time?_ Aki grimaced. Sherry had been in control during her entire turn, and now she felt like an idiot. She placed Pollinosis and Copy Plant in her graveyard as Sherry tossed four more coins on to her pile. "I...end my turn." Aki said, nothing else to do.

"Draw." Aki was unsurprised when she saw a hand going for the coins Sherry had gathered. "I managed to draw a Speed Spell this turn." She placed Speed Spell - Shift Down on the table for Aki to see. "Removing four Speed Counters from Speed World 2 twice means I can inflict 1600 damage." And with Aki only having 1400 points left, that meant their duel was over.

Aki sighed and started gathering up her cards, but she stopped when Sherry put a hand over hers.

"One question." Sherry asked. "You realize you could've done that same thing to me, right?"

Aki tilted her head, not sure what Sherry was getting at. After a few seconds, it clicked. She'd had two Speed Spells in her hand, and enough Speed Counters to activate Speed world 2's damage effect twice. The realization was like a slap in the face. "...I could've won." She muttered. "I don't believe it. I was so focused on getting rid of Fleur de Chevalier, I completely forgot about using Speed world 2's damage effect."

"It's a simple mistake." Sherry said, leaning back. "Speed World 2 is hard to adjust to for a lot of people. New riding duelists have an even harder time."

"You use it so efficiently, though...and you manage your Speed Counters perfectly." Aki said. "...Yuusei is the same way." She quickly added. "Even Team Unicorn..." She sighed and leaned backwards, staring up at the ceiling. "That's twice I've lost to that effect now."

Sherry couldn't help but smile. "Now you see why there's a hundred and one online petitions to get Speed World 1 back. But. Either way, it was more than good enough. You did at least as well as Yuusei did when he dueled me."

Aki blinked, and looked at Sherry. "...what do you mean?"

"I'll get straight to the point." Sherry said. "That was a test - to see how strong you are relative to the rest of Team 5D's. And you passed." She looked straight at Aki. "I'd like you to join my team, Izayoi."

Aki was hit by a rather strange surge of feelings all at once. Shock was certainly the most prevalent, followed by anger (she'd tricked her into meeting her away from all her friends so she could try to poach her for her team? It was a little insulting, both to her and to her friends), and strangely enough, a little surge of pride that she'd apparently done as well as Yuusei. After a moment, she shook her head. "Now - wait just a minute. I'm a mem-"

"You're a member of Team 5D's." Sherry said. "You're their first alternate, right?"

"...yes." Aki said. "I'm dueling while Crow's arm heals."

"It seemed fine to me when he and Jack Atlas were trying to kill each other earlier. I'd assume he'll be able to take his place again when the WRGP restarts."

"...yes, probably." Aki muttered, forced to face something she'd been considering a lot the past couple weeks, but hadn't actually mentioned to anybody. She was glad, of course, that Crow was better and could duel again. And if she wasn't there to make a fool of herself and barely inflict any damage, or get into a crash out of nowhere, the team was better off, right? But, still, no matter how many times she'd told herself that...

"I'm not asking you to betray your team, Izayoi." Sherry said. "But if both of our teams have access to the full 12,000 life points, it increases both of our chances of making it closer to Yliaster, right?"

"...that is true..." Aki muttered. The real enemy was, after all, Yliaster. And if both of their teams were at full strength, it meant a greater chance of beating them...

"If you still want to be an alternate for Team 5D's, I won't object. In the event they needed you, it's unlikely that both of our teams would have to duel on the same day anyway. And if they did, or in the event that I was forced to duel Team 5D's..." Sherry shrugged her shoulders. "There wouldn't be any hard feelings."

"...mmn..." Aki grunted. She wondered if Sherry had rehearsed this. She was certainly making it hard for Aki to object, with her combination of airtight logic and incredibly lenient terms.

"And...besides all of that." Aki felt Sherry's hand touch her arm, and suddenly stared down at that. Her eyes remained fixated on Sherry's hand as she spoke. "I think, even though you might be ashamed of what happened to you against Team Unicorn and Team Catastrophe, you really want to continue dueling in this tournament. So badly you're probably hoping Jack Atlas broke Crow's arm again when he put him through that table."

"..." Aki looked away, and took the opportunity to feel twice as ashamed as she had when she'd initially had exactly that thought during Crow and Jack's fight earlier. "I..." She glanced at Sherry, whose brows rose in anticipation. She looked away again. "...it makes sense, when you say it, but." She sighed. She kept trying to say 'I don't want to leave my team', but that seemed to infer 'But it's okay if I leave you high and dry', which she didn't want to do either. After what was easily the most awkward moments Aki had experienced in a good while (which really said something, considering it had to contend with the awkward silence that followed Jack's proposal of what could only be summarized as 'A play about a dueling cup of ramen, two condiments, and a witch with a bike horn'), she just went with what seemed like a good compromise to her.

"Maybe, if...Yuusei and everyone else is okay with it." She said. "If they're okay with it, then...maybe." She said. She was surprised to see Sherry look perfectly satisfied with that.

"That's good." She said. "Either way, if you're all a team, it's good if they know before you make the decision."

Aki let out a sigh of relief - there. Now, if someone objected (more like 'when Jack and/or Crow freaked out'), she wouldn't have to worry about offending Sherry herself. But, at the same time, she felt a sense of dread at considering the situation that would leave Sherry in... "Alright - uh, my mama and papa are probably expecting me back home by now, so..."

"I understand. It's important not to keep your parents waiting." Both of them stood up. Sherry offered Aki a hand. "Thank you for coming here and considering my offer, Izayoi."

"...mmn." Aki took her hand and shook it. "...it was fun, dueling you Sherry-san." She hastily added. She broke the shake and headed for the door, which Mizoguchi (who had been entirely silent since Aki had entered, save when he'd offered the two refreshments about halfway through their deck) had already opened for her. Strangely, she felt a little more used to it now.

"Good night, Mizoguchi-san." She said.

"And to you, Izayoi-san."

Once she was down the hall and heard the door close, Aki felt her entire body slouch a bit as she exhaled for what felt like the first time in over an hour.

"Why...why was I so nervous...?" She muttered, before her cellphone went off. She checked the caller ID and grimaced. "Oh, no." She answered the call. "Mama. No, no, I'm fine, I was just with a friend - I know, I should've said something, I'm sorry..."


	2. Chapter 2

"She wants you to do WHAT?" Jack roared.

"Be the third member of her team." Aki answered, backing up just a bit and wiping her face. Jack sent a lot of spittle about when he yelled like this.

"She says she wants you to be our alternate and her third member at the same time? That sounds like a scam to me!" Crow said. "Like she'll try to guilt you into sticking with her or something if one of us gets injured and we need you!"

"...well, I dunno." Bruno interjected. "There's only sixteen teams in the finals and rarely more than one or two duels per day...it's unlikely that Sherry's team and us would have a duel against separate opponents on the same day..."

"Then she's just gonna wait until it's us up against her!" Crow said. "She's tryin' to butter you up to make sure she has an edge over us in the tournament!"

"That isn't it, Crow!" Aki exclaimed. "She said if she and Mizoguchi-san came up against Team 5D's, I could stay out of the duel and there wouldn't be any hard feelings!"

Crow was taken aback by Aki's outburst. "Hrngh...I dunno, there's still somethin' about this I don't like..." He growled, rubbing his chin. "She's gotta have an angle'a some kind."

"I...I dunno about that." Bruno said. "I think it's really just about Yliaster. Sherry's seen Aki duel before, she knows she's a skilled duelist...it makes more sense than scrambling for a teammate before the WRGP starts again..."

"Oi, Bruno, whose side are you on!" Jack snapped, jabbing Bruno in his gut, causing him to stumble back a bit.

"H-hey, I'm just saying...!" Bruno said, one hand on his stomach.

"No matter how y'slice it, if we're both teams in the WRGP, that makes Sherry one of our opponents." Crow said. "...but we do probably need all we got against Yliaster..." He added. Frustrated, he put a hand to his head. "Nrrrgh, this is too damn confusing! Why can't we just find those stupid Three Emperors and bust their damn heads in or something!"

"Crow, you'd just get the crap beat outta ya like ya did yesterday!" Rua chimed in ever-so-helpfully. if looks could kill, the youth would've been dead on contact with the hateful gaze Crow was sending his way.

"You little bast-"

"_Crow._" Aki said warningly. Crow briefly paused, looked at Aki and seemingly dropped the matter right there. Rua snickered, but the glare Aki sent him next told him he probably wasn't out of the woods. Perhaps picking up on her brother's predicament, Ruka intervened.

"It sounds like Sherry went to a lot of effort to accommodate us." She said. "But Yuusei, Bruno and Aki are the ones who have talked with her the most, not any of us."

"Yeah..." Bruno considered. "Well, she's..." He paused, briefly remembering a rather frightening series of kicks (that she was somehow able to execute in high heels) and a hidden taser... "...she's scary." He said. "Very scary. But I don't think she's untrustworthy." He looked at Yuusei. "What do you think, Yuusei?"

"Yeah, Yuusei, you haven't said a single thing this whole time!" Crow pointed out.

Yuusei was silent for a good minute or two. "...it's Aki's decision." He said. As if that settled it, he exited the garage without another word.

"Yuusei..." Aki muttered. Great. Now she'd gone and offended him. She was more sure than ever that this had been a bad idea.

"Ah, geez..." Crow rubbed his temple briefly. He shrugged apologetically at Aki. "I didn't think he'd do that, Aki. I'll go talk to hi-"

"No, wait." Aki said. "I'll talk to him." She figured it was her fault he'd walked out, she should at least be the one to apologize to him.

Crow paused briefly, then grinned. "Oh, okay. I get it. Sure." He said in a manner that would've only been more obvious if he'd given a big fat wink to Aki right there.

Aki stared at him with half-lidded eyes for a good 30 seconds. "...thank you, Crow." She eventually said and walked off after Yuusei. The grin on Crow's face as she left couldn't have possibly been less subtle.

"...what're you, having a stroke?" Jack asked.

"That tears it." Crow snarled. He was leaping at Jack less than a second later.

"Not again...!" Ruka muttered.

"GO JACK!" Rua shouted.

- - -

It didn't take Aki very long to find Yuusei. He was sitting on a bench a short distance away from the garage, seemingly...waiting. Aki found it a little strange as she tentatively walked towards him. "Yuusei." She started. "I'm sor-" Yuusei held a finger out to stop her.

"Sit down, Aki."

"Oh. Alright." She complied, sitting down next to him.

After a second, Yuusei let out a breath. "Sorry." He said, thoroughly confusing Aki. "It was the only way I could think of to get us both out here without making a big deal of it."

Aki paused, then realization dawned on her. "...you just wanted us to be able to talk privately?" She asked. She suddenly remembered how much of a big screaming deal it had been when Sherry had asked to speak to Aki in private yesterday. It made sense. "...so you're not mad?"

Yuusei smiled warmly and shook his head. "No."

Aki suddenly felt relieved. "Good, I was worried for a second..." She paused. "...so...what do you think, then?"

"..." Yuusei was silent for a moment. After thinking for a good minute or two, he spoke. "Before everything with Yliaster came up, Jack, Crow and I entered this tournament so we could...find out what we were going to do next." Yuusei said, staring up at the sky. "Since you saw Sherry and I duel and became a D-Wheeler yourself, I think it's kind of become the same for you."

Aki looked down. "...it has." She said. "At first, I wasn't sure, but...when I was dueling against Andore, for a few seconds, it all felt so...natural."

Yuusei smiled. "Yeah." He looked at Aki. "You're a natural born D-Wheeler, Aki." He said. "Even if we're fighting Yliaster...if we keep dueling and make it to the top, we'll all find out what to do next after that. And that includes you."

"...do you really think so?"

"Yeah." Yuusei nodded. "And that'll be true whether you're a member of Team 5D's or Team..." He paused. "...do you know the name of Sherry's team?"

"Uh, I think it's...Team White Flower?" She said, not entirely sure.

Yuusei smirked uncharacteristically. "It sounds like a good fit for you."

Aki couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "So...you're okay with it?"

"...yeah." Yuusei said. "If you really want to be a serious D-Wheeler, you should be more than our alternate. And I won't stand in the way of that."

At that exact second, Jack flew through one of the windows, rolling on the ground. "Grraaah, IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT, CROW!" He roared, leaping back through.

"...on the other hand, that position may be more secure than I thought." Yuusei admitted. The two looked at each other for a moment, then shared a laugh. Yuusei started to get up. "I'll go pull them apart, then try to convince them it's okay." He stopped when he felt something grab his sleeve.

"Wait." Aki said. "I'd like to convince them myself." She said. She hesitated, before adding, "And...I'm sure Bruno can handle the two of them."

Yuusei paused briefly, then nodded. "...yeah. Okay." He said and sat back down.

"So...what made you become a D-Wheeler anyway?"

"Well, back in Satellite..."

- - -

Meanwhile, back inside, Bruno had successfully managed to pacify Jack and Crow by giving the former a steaming hot bowl of Red Daemon's Noodle and a cup of tea, and the latter a plate of nachos (he wasn't sure what it was, but Crow went absolutely mental for nachos. The spicier the better).

"So y'know." Crow said as he tossed another salsa-marinated tortilla chip into his mouth. "There's one thing we haven't considered here."

"Indeed." Jack said. "Now that both Yuusei and Izayoi are out of the room, I think we should just get it out in the open."

"I agree." Crow agreed.

"Eh? What're you two talking about?" Rua asked.

"There's a distinct possibility that there's another reason Leblanc wants Izayoi on her team. An ulterior motive, as it were."

"Ulterior motive?" Ruka asked worriedly. "You think she wants to take advantage of Aki somehow?"

"That's exactly it, Ruka!" Crow said. "We think that Sherry might be planning..." Crow put a hand to the whiteboard and suddenly flipped it over. "THIS!"

...and there was a rather crudely drawn picture of Sherry embracing Aki. There were more than a few hearts and sparkles surrounding them.

"...that's _really_ pink." Bruno muttered.

"The colors aren't important, Bruno!" Crow snapped. "Focus on the message it's trying to convey! Don't be such a philistine!"

"I dunno if it's conveying anything besides that you _really_ like pink, Crow..." Rua muttered.

"When did you guys even have time to draw this...?" Ruka added.

"THE DRAWING ISN'T THE POINT!" Crow fumed, grabbing a rag and wiping his work away, while growling something about _"nobody understanding art..."_

"So wait." Bruno said. "You guys think Sherry _likes_ Aki?" He asked. "Where the heck did you get that from!"

"It does sound a little far fetched." Ruka said. Sherry was so deadly serious whenever Ruka had seen her, the idea of her being romantically interested in any of Team 5D's seemed like a long shot to her.

Crow and Jack both chuckled. "You guys, you're so sweet. You're just like Yuusei." Crow said. "But don't underestimate the two of us! Jack and I have a talent for this kind of thing!"

"That's right!" Jack said. "I, Jack Atlas, have the most powerful Gaydar in the entire city!" He said, pointing a thumb at himself. "I've never been wrong in a matter such as this!"

"That's right! And neither have I!" Crow added.

"Misaki twins." Jack said.

"Oh - aw geez, ONE time! That was one time!"

"Technically two times." Jack corrected, grinning. Crow growled, but seemed to calm himself by eating another nacho.

"The point is!" Crow said. "Sherry's definitely gay. And there's a good chance she's set her sights on Aki!"

Bruno rubbed his hands over his temples for a second. He was having a bit of a hard time processing all of this. "You guys, you have no evidence to back this up! Not to mention no evidence Aki is the same way!"

"Yeah, I thought Big Sis Aki liked Yuusei!" Rua piped up.

Crow smirked. "Well, duh, we all know that Aki likes Yuusei."

Jack snorted. "I wouldn't be so sure of that."

"And anyway, even if Sherry _is_ that way, what business is it of ours to talk about it!"

"Oh, it isn't." Jack said.

"Totally private stuff." Crow added.

"...then why are we talking about it!" Bruno said, becoming thoroughly exasperated.

Crow snorted. "_Duh!_ To bet on it!" He flipped the board again and there was a chart with Jack, Crow, Bruno, Rua and Ruka's names on it. The silence he was met with was staggering.

"...I can see why you guys waited until Yuusei was out of the room to do this." Ruka said.

"...I'd be kinda surprised if he didn't pick up on it just by looking at the whiteboard." Rua said.

"We hid the board from Yuusei - look are you guys gonna bet or not!"

"No."  
"No!"  
Rua looked at Ruka. She shot one back at him. He heaved a sigh. "No."

"Oh, y'know what, you guys are just - ugh, whatever!" Crow said and stormed out. Silence hung over the room for a moment.

"...Misaki twins?" Bruno eventually asked.

"Those records are sealed, Bruno." Jack said and took a sip of his tea.

-

"...where'd you get those nachos, Crow?" Aki asked.

"Bruno made them - hey, Yuusei, when he makes them, he puts the salsa on _before_ melting the cheese over them! It really packs in the flavor! Here, try one!" Yuusei complied, taking one of the nachos and eating it.

"Wow, that really does pack in the flavor." Yuusei reached for another, only for Crow to smack his hand away.

"Hey, Crow-" Aki started to say, but Yuusei stopped her.

"No, no, it's okay. Crow is...protective of his nachos. Sorry, Crow, I forgot."

"I forgive you, Yuusei. Just don't try it again." Crow warned. "So, what've you two been talkin' about anyway?"

"We were talking about Aki joining Sherry's team." Yuusei said.

"..." Crow smirked. "So you're okay with it, huh?" He asked. Yuusei nodded.

"Crow, I-" Aki started, but she was again interrupted, this time by Crow slapping a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, don't worry about it." He said. "In the end, I guess if I thought I was gonna get a chance to duel in the WRGP, then it got delayed and I was bumped back down to an alternate I'd probably wanna keep dueling no matter how I could too." Crow grinned. "And all that stuff about savin' the city and beating Yliaster. That's important too."

Aki stared in surprise for a few seconds, before smiling. "...thank you, Crow."

"Don't mention it!" Crow said. "Just don't let her take advantage of your nature, eh Aki?" He added with a laugh. Aki looked confused. Yuusei quirked an eyebrow upwards.

"...y'know, Crow." Yuusei pointed out. "If we're going to be losing our alternate, maybe you and Jack should stop trying to kill each other every day."

"Sorry Yuusei, no promises." Crow said, tossing another nacho into his mouth. "What kind of Team Vice-President would I be if I backed down from Jack's taunts?"

"...Team Vice-President?" Aki asked.

"Well, yeah, Yuusei's the Team Leader, and I'm Vice-President!" Crow explained.

"I wasn't aware there was a Vice-President." Yuusei said, less than amused.

"Heh - you gotta keep up on this kinda stuff, Yuusei! Lucky for you, that's why I'm Vice-President, to catch the stuff that slips through the cracks!"

"So...what's that make Jack?" Aki asked.

"Jack? Jack ain't anything. He can be something when he gets a damn job." Crow said. "I mean, I ain't expectin' him to go out and bring in a million bucks tomorrow, and I know he tries, but damn, how stupid d'ya gotta be to get fired from a sandwich shop! It's just making sandwiches! Who _can't_ do that!"

"Crow-" Yuusei tried to interrupt, but Crow continued on unfazed.

"And it wouldn't even be so bad if he just kept to himself, but he's runnin' out every day, spendin' 30 bucks on TEA! Tea doesn't cost that much! I could buy a YEAR'S worth of tea for that much! If y'ask me, he just buys that super expensive stuff so he can feel all fancy and important." Crow stuck a finger out. "Ooooh, lookit me, I, JACK ATLAS, love fancy tea because I, JACK ATLAS, can't do anything unless it's stupid and fruity and expensive because I, JACK ATLAS, always HAVE to live like a king even if it's on Crow and Yuusei's dollar!"

"Aki, we should move." Yuusei said.

"Okay..." Aki sighed. Both she and Yuusei stood up and took a few steps to the left.

"Eh? What're yo-" Crow was interrupted by one hand slamming down on to his head and the other grabbing his waist.

"TAKE THIS CROW!" Jack roared as he lifted the flailing Crow into the air. "ABSOLUTE POWER FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORCE!" And once again, Jack was pile driving Crow through something. This time it was the bench Aki and Yuusei had just been in.

"...you tried to warn him." Aki sighed.

"Yeah." Yuusei agreed.

"my bones..."

Jack patted his hands together. "_I'll_ be taking the title of Vice-President now, since Crow is currently indisposed. As my first order of business. Yuusei, please leave."

Yuusei quirked an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because I need to speak to Izayoi privately! Don't question me!" Jack roared.

Yuusei glanced at Aki for a moment, then back at Jack. "...alright." He said, and reached down to grab Crow and help him up.

"Leave him." Jack growled.

"Jack-"

"I'll be fine, Yuusei..." Crow waved as he pulled his head out of what was left of the bench.

Yuusei sighed. "Alright." He said and walked off. Aki watched him leave. Jack waited until he was gone before speaking.

"Alright, Izayoi!" Jack said. "I'll give you one chance to tell me straight! What's the main reason you want to join Leblanc's team! Is it Yliaster or something else?"

Aki was silent for a good several moments. She knew if she said it was Yliaster, Jack would pick up on it immediately. Eventually, she sighed. "...I want to keep dueling." She said. "I want to be a D-Wheeler like you and Crow and Yuusei and...Sherry as well."

"...is that so?" Jack asked, rubbing his chin. Eventually, he pointed at Aki. "Alright, Izayoi! I've decided! You can join LeBlanc's team!" Aki's eyes widened.

"Jack..." Aki smiled. "Thank yo-"

"Hold on!" Jack grinned and held up one finger. Aki immediately felt a sense of foreboding. "On one condition."

"...what?" Aki asked, afraid to know the answer.

"The condition is this!" Jack said. "You have to be the witch in my play! And you have to get into it! You can't just scowl at me backstage, you have to smile!"

Aki stared for a good minute or two at Jack, considering saying a whole _bunch_ of things. She eventually settled on "...fine." and placed a hand to her head, walking off to find Yuusei and ask where he kept the aspirin. Meanwhile, Crow was finally getting back to his feet.

"...wow, you got her to agree to it."

"Of course. I would've found a way even without this opportunity."

"Heh. There's no way you're makin' me get in that stupid play though!"

"We'll see, Crow."

"...think Sherry's gonna try and put the moves on Aki?"

"If she hasn't already."

"Betcha 2500 yen Sherry tries to kiss her."

"6000 and you being in my play says Izayoi lets her."

Crow laughed. "You are _so_ on." The two shook hands.


End file.
